The concept of a medical apparatus for humidifying or otherwise treating a gas from an insufflator during surgery is described in Douglas Ott et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,474; 6,068,609 and 7,066,902. Briefly, an insufflation gas is heated and hydrated i.e. conditioned, before the gas is directed into a body cavity through a device such as a trocar. In order to hydrate the insufflation gas a charge of hydration fluid is typically injected into a device where the hydration fluid can humidify the insufflation gas and a heater can bring the insufflation gas to a temperature near body temperature. The conditioned insufflation gas is then sent to a trocar for injection into a body cavity of a patient.
One of the requirements for delivery of insufflation gas to a patient's body cavity is to maintain the proper flow of insufflation gas into the body cavity. Normally, gas flows from a high-pressure gas source, which is remote from the patient, through an insufflation device and finally into a trocar where the gas is injected into the patient's body cavity. Typically, the insufflation gas is stored in high-pressure containers and a pressure regulator reduces the pressure of the gas to a lower pressure. The low pressure gas is typically delivered to the trocar through an insufflation device containing a set of inline end connectors that couple the source of insufflation gas, the pressure regulator, the filter, the heater, or heater and hydrator to trocar to each other. During the insufflation process the insufflation gas, which is conditioned by filtering, heating and or hydrating before delivery flows through a number of inline end connectors, which are typically connected by flexible tubing.
The conditioned gas is then delivered to the patient through a trocar cannula that extends into the body cavity of a patient, however, in some cases it is preferred to begin the insufflation process with an insufflation needle rather than the larger trocar cannula since the insufflation needle has a smaller profile than the trocar cannula. In these cases one set of insufflation devices may be used with the insufflation needle and another set of insufflation devices may be used with the trocar. The present invention eliminates the need for separate insufflation systems.